


Gift

by Chrysalin



Category: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms, Original Work, The Elves and the Shoemaker retelling - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fae & Fairies, Falling In Love, Ireland
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 02:46:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19123009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrysalin/pseuds/Chrysalin
Summary: He leaves gifts for fairies, even when he has nothing for himself. She comes to realize he's the greatest gift of all.





	Gift

**Author's Note:**

> Like my Beauty retelling, "Talia Awakened", this story was inspired by an assignment to retell a story from the oral tradition. Based on The Elves and the Shoemaker, I really wanted to focus on the idea of kindness being returned.

My name is An’aella Aranwen Aneira, though most call me Ana. I am Fae. 

Most humans have never heard of the Fae. I look human, but I am completely different at the same time. We are too beautiful to truly pass for mortals, though we are not strictly speaking immortal. It takes an extraordinarily long time, but we will eventually age and die. When among humans I use magic called glamour to draw less attention. Most people never realize what I am. 

This is my fairy tale, such as it was. 

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Like many of my kind, I often grew weary of our lands and of the people who so rarely changed. It is one of the blessings of mortality, the ability to change. We live so long that it takes years or more to alter our habits. As a result, those who are ‘young’ often walk among humans. They are endlessly fascinating because they are so different, so vibrant and alive. At the time, I was touring the human realm of Ireland, where there are those who remember the old ways and as an extension remember us. 

Ireland is a beautiful country, with its hills and emerald fields. It is at once like my home and different, and that only makes me love it more. I had come to a small village not too far from the coast, and I could hear the waves crashing against the cliffs. I decided to stay for the night and sought a place to sleep. 

Heading down the road to the nearest hotel, I spotted the home and store of a woodcarver. It was not a terribly common trade in the current era; many people preferred their products to be made at a factory with countless identical others so they could be purchased at their leisure. Sure enough, this shop showed signs of disrepair, and the man at the counter looked thin and worn. Despite that I smelled fresh cream and bread. Following the tantalizing odor, I discovered a tiny bowl of just those things beside the back door.

I was torn between shock and a smile. Baked goods and cream were traditional tithes to the Fair Folk, meant to deter us from mischief and to perhaps invite a gift. This human had little, but he remembered the stories and sought to honor my kind. I had no doubt that in better times he would have included honey too. This kindness aroused my curiosity and, more surprisingly, my generosity. I had never before been inclined to give a human a reward. I contemplated the little bowl for a moment longer before returning to the front of the building and knocking as I entered his shop. 

“Welcome,” he said with a smile. “Feel free to look around, but I’m afraid my work is not very impressive.”

I thought briefly before I replied, stroking a delicate carving of a faerie-child in her flower. “It’s a bit rough, maybe, but in a way that makes it better. This is lovely.”

“Thank you.”

“I imagine you get little enough praise.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “I do not go looking for it. I only hope to make enough to keep food on the table.”

“Your skill would have been more appreciated in another time, I think.”

“Perhaps so.”

“How much is this?” I asked. It was charming in its crafting, so different from what my kind produced. My young cousin would love it. 

He named a very reasonable price, so I nodded and retrieved the appropriate amount of human currency. I thought about urging him to take more, but I sensed he had little left beside his pride and I would not be the one to strip it from him when he had been generous already. 

“Do you rent out your extra room?” I questioned, not taking the time to think it through.

“Do I – Yes, if there is no space at the hotel, but I suggest booking one of their rooms if you want a place to stay. I’m afraid you’d be more comfortable there.”

“I would rather stay here, if at all possible.”

“Well, all right, but… why?”

“You have an honest face and you leave bread and cream for faeries,” I said truthfully, because of course Fae cannot tell a direct lie. 

He blushed slightly but nodded and smiled again. “An old habit. What’s your name?”

“Ana Aneira, but just Ana is fine. What can I call you?”

“Finn Byrne.” He reached for the knapsack I had over one shoulder, so I relinquished it. “It’s lovely to have you, Ana.”

The room he led me to was small but neat, and I rather suspected he kept the nicest things in here and used the older, more worn ones himself. Once I settled in and paid his far too low cost for a night and a meal, he prepared supper and made sure I had as much as I wanted. It was almost horrifying how little he reserved for himself. 

That night, after Finn had gone to sleep, I crept down the stairs and re-entered his little shop. On a workbench near the back was a single piece of cured wood, and I knew it was all he’d been able to afford. I studied it, waiting for it to tell me what it wanted to be. The remainder of the walnut’s spirit whispered in my ear, so I rolled up my sleeves and began. 

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I came down the next morning to a noisy crowd. On any other day, I would have known far in advance if so many humans were in the area, but I’d worn myself down by using magic in a human realm and had slept soundly for many hours. The walnut was in front of the window with Finn nearby, trying to be heard over the crowd. 

“What’s going on?” I asked, voice effortlessly projecting through the noise. 

Finn’s head snapped in my direction, and the positively beautiful smile on his face brought one to mine. “It’s the most amazing thing, Ana. I had a single piece of wood left for a carving last night, and when I came down this morning I found it finished by the window. I don’t know who did it or how they managed, but it’s amazing.”

The walnut had been reshaped into a perfect recreation of its tree, each bit of bark and leaf distinct, a ring of tiny dancers surrounding its base. Each detail, no matter how miniscule, was absolutely lifelike, and there were no knife marks or anything else that might have marred its beauty. It was the walnut’s dearest memory, and when I had asked it last night it had shown me the night it had been the site of a faerie revel. I hadn’t cut the wood any further than it had been already, instead using my power to coax it into the form it wished to assume. No factory would be able to reproduce it. He’d found it on his counter with a note that read simply ‘A gift’.

“It’s wonderful,” I told him as I descended. The crowd parted around me, taken aback by my more archaic choice of outfit. My leather riding pants were snug and the same shade as the walnut, and my matching vest and amber shirt were of raw silk so fine it might have drifted away. I’d twisted my honey-colored hair into a braid that brushed the back of my knees as I walked. “Whoever made it must be looking out for you.”

The words had barely left my mouth when a foolish man I guessed was rather young – it’s so hard for me to tell – stepped forward and offered Finn a princely sum. I frowned, not liking his greed. The walnut deserved a home where it would be loved, not displayed as a symbol of wealth. My smile returned when Finn turned him down. After more than an hour’s shouting and bargaining, an elderly gentleman left with the wrapped walnut held carefully in his hands. He meant it as a gift to his beloved granddaughter, who claimed she had seen the faeries dance. 

I don’t think I had ever seen a human so happy. He was paid handsomely for the piece, and as soon as the rest of his customers had left, some of whom bought a few of his other works, he asked if I meant to leave soon. I told him I would rather stay for another day or so, if he didn’t mind, and he didn’t. Instead he invited me to accompany him on a few errands. He showed me the village as we walked, and I found myself appreciating it far more than I had when I arrived the day before. His joy made it seem far more beautiful. Once his tasks were done, we stopped at a small orphanage near the edge of town. He gave them all the money he had after his purchases and told the headmistress to buy a nicer meal for the children. 

While I had already intended to stay a few days longer, Finn’s generosity caught my attention once more. That night, after a meal that proved more than enough for the both of us, he set out another bowl for the faeries and went to bed. I returned to his shop and studied the wood he’d set there – a pair of fine cuts in mahogany and oak. Again, I asked them what they would like to be and granted their wish, leaving behind two beautiful statuettes and a note once again assuring Finn that they were a gift. 

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This continued in a similar vein for nearly a week. I would use my magic to shape the wood at night, never more than a piece or two at a time, and leave them for Finn to find in the morning. He was getting more customers every day, lured by these unique pieces. They were the center of his business now, and he was able to produce better works himself now that he could afford finer tools and materials. There had been a day when he didn’t even sell the statuette I left, giving it instead to a child who had fallen in love with it the instant he saw it. He was making as much from the items he sold of his each day as he did from mine, and I was glad. When I left, his business would continue to flourish. 

A week after my arrival, I made a series of fourteen statuettes, then thirty figurines from much smaller pieces of wood, and set them out as always. That done, I returned to my room and slept. Morning came all too soon, and I headed down the steps as the usual crowd departed with their purchases. Finn smiled when he saw me, as always, but I couldn’t bring myself to return the gesture. It was time for me to move on. 

“Good morning, Ana,” he greeted. “Will you be staying again today?”

This had been our routine for a week now, and it pained me to vary from it. “No, I’m afraid not. I’ve been here long enough; I need to go.”

His eyes grew saddened, but he managed to keep smiling. “You must be homesick. Will you come back someday?”

“I don’t think so.”

I paid him for my stay and walked to the door, bag over my shoulder, but his quiet voice stopped me in my tracks. “Thank you. You’ve done so much for me.”

I turned to face him, surprised. “What do you mean?”

Finn shook his head. “Please don’t act like you don’t understand. I’m thanking you for the carvings, for giving me a chance to rebuild my life. I never expected such a gift for my little bits of kindness.”

“You’ve shown people far more than a little bit of kindness. I have never met someone as generous as you, Finn.”

“I leave gifts for the faeries so they won’t do me harm. I never expected a faerie princess to go to such trouble as a result.”

I don’t know how he realized what I was; I had been very careful to keep my powers hidden in his presence. I realized a second later, staring into his leaf-green eyes, that he had always known. He had the Sight. I’m not sure how I hadn’t realized sooner. 

“I’m not sure what to say,” I told him. “I never thought you knew what I was.”

“You don’t need to worry; I won’t tell anyone about you. Really, though, Ana – thank you. I don’t know how to repay you.”

“Come with me,” I suggested, surprising both of us. “To my world. You don’t really belong here.”

“I wouldn’t really belong there either,” he reminded gently. “My kind doesn’t do well in Faerie. It’s not the place for us.”

“It could be. You wouldn’t get older there. You could stay with me.”

A smirk slowly spread across his face. “Ana, are you asking me to marry you?”

“I – Yes. I think I am.”

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In the end, Finn chose to come with me. He gave my last pieces to the orphanage. The little ones were for the children to play with, and the larger ones were for them to sell so the children could be more comfortable. 

Finn was my husband for more than a thousand years, and we loved each other dearly. I taught him how to speak to the wood as I did. He never cut a piece again; he used windfall branches and made pieces even more spectacular than the ones I had created in his world. Part of it was because the wood had never experienced the pain of cutting. The rest was because he had the heart of an artist. 

I’m tired now, and old. My time has come, and Finn, the greatest gift of my life, is waiting on the other side.


End file.
